'Fear The Walking Dead' star Danay Garcia says coronavirus will change horror storytelling in a big way
As the world battles a deadly pandemic, we need anything that provides us with entertainment. And so, there was much curiosity and joy, when Quibi, the mobile-only streaming platform was launched in April. Packed with new shows, ranging from horror fiction to reality, there is a lot of fun content to keep your mind busy during these difficult times.
'50 States Of Fright', helmed by Sam Raimi, is one of the shows that's keeping people hooked to the app. The anthology series, produced by Gunpowder & Sky, has a star-studded cast including 'Fear the Walking Dead' star Danay Garcia who spoke to MEA World Wide (MEAWW) in an interview, about her episode and the future of horror.
Garcia says, "This story has a lot to do with Cuban culture. Every story brings what the state offers. Florida is warm, hot and then it's scary when you least expect it. Things go from bright and beautiful to dark and scary. The deeper my character gets into it, the darker it gets. It's a journey that goes from light to dark. You don't notice till its the end. That's what I enjoy about my episode, you don't expect a scary story in Florida. You think of the beach and pina coladas! We turned it into a very spooky place. When I got the script, I was like how can we make this spooky? Everyone goes to Florida to relax. But when I understood where it was going, the fun part was turning something relaxing---it's like turning Hawaii into something terrible."
Garcia is not a novice when it comes to working on horror shows. Asked what the challenges are acting in such genres, she says, "The most challenging part of working in a horror show is to keep it scary. Not even scary, but to entertain the audience. You don't want to be predictable. You want to be unpredictable and engaging. If you're surprised, you're supposed to surprise the audience. The more you do it, the more you become desensitized. What I always do is, start from scratch, forget everything I know, the turning points, how will the camera tell the story, like how the director will tell the story. I try to bring myself to the part and let other players play their part. You don't want to control everything. You want to be around good people who know what they're doing. They have to be excited and want to spook people. It sounds easy, but it's really not. In 'Fear', you know how many times I've seen Zombies? I could easily be desensitized to them. But, I always try to keep myself present and forget I have done this for a while. This part of work fascinates me. I always find myself freaking afraid of the situation I am in. When I feel that, I know I am on the right path. That's what happened in '50 States'.I finished shooting 'Fear', and jumped into another scary world and let the director take on what their vision is and have that communication. That trust is important. It's huge teamwork."
She added, "When I take hiatus between seasons, the first week, I have nightmares. I never get used to it, because I go from extreme of relaxing to the other extreme of very intense days at sets."
When quizzed about her opinion on the future of horror cinema, she says that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is going to have a profound impact on storytelling henceforth. "I was thinking about that. With this whole pandemic, I think there's a way we would look at horror. For the first time in the world, we have something that is scary. It's something we haven't felt before. I really feel it has changed us when it comes to content that we will see later. The situation we are going through will change the way we see the future. It will change the way storytellers would tell stories. We are not the same audience anymore. We don't fantasize about situations like this, we are living it. You need to be smarter with the audience with horror."
'50 States Of Fright' is streaming on Quibi.
